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22lr for home/self defense?
- Thread starter WWG
- Start date
I have no doubt I'll be raked across the coals for saying this...but I have no problem with the 22LR in this capacity. Obviously it doesn't compare with the larger calibers, but I'm more than comfortable knowing my wife has a Walther P22 loaded with Remington Viper copper plated truncated cone rounds at her disposal while I'm out of town for work. She is proficient with it, and unless home invaders in our neighborhood start wearing body armor I have no doubt it would serve to incapacitate someone in a heartbeat if she ever had to use it.
Are you planning to be invaded by an army of militant squirrels? If yes then perhaps it will suffice. Otherwise, I would look at something that is going to penetrate better, have a larger wound cavity, and be more reliable in ignition. While it is better then nothing there is no way to recommend it as a go to round for defense.
All you need is a couple of shots in the same area and the body will bleed out trying to clot it.
I keep a 22mag revolver in my nightstand. I can tell you one thing no matter what anyone tells me I would never want to be shot 6 times with that thing. lol
10 shots of 60gr. subsonic should be at least a deterrent...while reloading, of course with three more mags... 
22 is very underrated as a killing round. Probably why so many people underestimate it and kill/wound themselves accidentally.
The question is how long will it take to bleed out? Short of a shot to the CNS the there is guarantee that by the time the target has bled out enough to lose conscientiousness that they have not closed the distance and damaged you. And the .22lr does not have what I would call a good reputation for penetrating a skull, even at close range for me to want to rely on it, hell even larger calibers will at time fail to penetrate the skull. Even with a round through the heart the body will have enough blood pressure to run for a number of seconds, more then enough time to return fire to lunge with an edged weapon. As far as just rounds on target dissuading them from coming further, you are assuming rational humans, which is not always the case.
